Memorial Bridge construction barge minus tugboat A worker looks over the edge of a construction barge at the site of the Memorial Bridge where a tug boat sank Wednesday. Plans are underway to raise the boat. (John Huff/Staff photographer)

PORTSMOUTH — Salvage crews are slated to return to Portsmouth this morning to lift a sunken tugboat from the waters beside the Memorial Bridge construction project.

Carol Morris, a spokeswoman for Archer Western Contractors, said equipment has been mobilized to lift the boat from the Piscataqua River.

"Low tide is about 9:30; slack is around 11 am, so that is when you will see activity," Morris wrote in an email Friday morning. "They will be using boats to pull the tug away from the barges and attempt to position it against the seawall slightly upriver of the barges so it can be raised and drained."

The boat's owner is in charge of the operation, according to Morris, who said the U.S. Coast Guard will also be keeping tabs on it.

Two crew members escaped injury Wednesday when the Benjamin Bailey became pinned against a barge at the Memorial Bridge construction site and capsized.

The 1,200-horsepower tugboat is owned by Riverside and Pickering Marine Contractors in Eliot, Maine. It was being operated under contract with Archer Western Contractors, the company running the bridge project.

Crews have been gearing up to try to raise the ship intermittently since Wednesday afternoon, but the efforts haven't panned out.